Majority Leader Harry Reid uses the "tactical" move of withdrawing the assault weapons ban from the bill that will go to the floor of the Senate "Dems give up on assault weapons ban," (March 20).

Every week, TV shows offer scenes in which fashion models let loose with automatic weapons. NRA bullies confidently predict the demise of any legislation that seeks to restrict the availability of weapons of war to an untrained, paranoid civilian population

Video game publishers sell more photo-realistic animated simulations of gruesome carnage to teenagers. Scared mentally ill people are stockpiling ammo and making lists. Lawmakers are more concerned about losing their seats than doing the right thing.

The news media has buried the images of dead children in the archives. The killing goes on while we enjoy our Second Amendment rights. Reality recedes. Bullets fly. Politicians cower. Gun manufacturers prosper. Common sense takes a long vacation.

George Hutchinson, Minneapolis